Aḥkām al-sulṭaniyyah (al-) : Political Ordinances. It is the title of a book written by al-Māwardī in which the author lists seven conditions or prerequisites the caliph should meet to qualify for the caliphal office. The prerequisites are: justice, knowledge, soundness of the organs of sense, soundness of body, soundness of judgment, courage and finally the Quraysh pedigree.

Ahl al-ḥaqq :the adherents of the truth (literally: â€˜the people of the truthâ€™. It could also mean â€˜the people of the true oneâ€™ i.e. â€˜the people of Godâ€™).

Ahl al-kalām (also mutakallimūn) : Muslim theologians (see kalām). According to al-Fārābī, the methods used by theologians essentially recourse to persuasive (iqnāâ€˜ī) or dialectical (jadalī) arguments, in which imaginative representations tend to replace demonstrative proofs. Al-Fārābībelieved that these arguments are inferior to dialectical ones.

Akhlāq (sing. khuluq) : character, manners; relating to individual mannerism, nature, see [Q68:V4]. According to Ikhwān al-Ṣafā, it is a natural disposition that prepares each and every member part of the body to enable the soul to act.

Akhlāṭ (sing. khalīṭ) : mixtures.

Alfāẓ (sing. lafẓ) : (pronounced) terms.

â€˜Ālim (al-) : the One who knows. It is one of the 99th attributes of God. Also, one of the attributes of the First, according to al-Fārābī. (see al-awwal)

â€˜Aqīdah : articles of faith. 1. Belief in God (Allāh). 2. Belief that Muḥammad is the Messenger of God. 3. Belief in the Books (Torah, Zabūr (Psalms), Injīl (Gospels), Qurâ€™ān). 4. Belief in the existence of angels and jinn. 5. Belief in the Last Day, Paradise, Hellâ€¦ 6. Belief in divine qaḍā' and qadar.

â€˜Aql: reason, mind, intellect (see al-Fārābī). In his treatise On the Meanings of the Intellect (fī maâ€˜āni al-â€˜aql), al-Fārābī gives a list of the meanings of the intellect or reason as used by the general public, the mutakallimūn, and Aristotle.1) prudence or sound judgment in determining what is right and what is wrong.2) the mutakallimūnuse it when referring to certain actions enjoined or repudiated by reason (generally received by the public as a whole or for the most part).3) for Aristotle, it is a â€œfaculty of the soul whereby man is able to attain certainty by recourse to universal, true and necessary premises, known neither by deduction nor reflection, but rather naturally and instinctivelyâ€.4) a part of the soul which is able to gain, through habituation and prolonged experience, a certain apprehension of premises pertaining to volitional matters, which are susceptible of being sought or shunned. This reason grows with age.5) potential, actual, acquired and active reason.

â€˜aql,â€˜āqil wa maâ€˜qūl : Plato believed that it is the Active Intellect or the unmoved Mover. Clearly distinguishable from the First Principle (al-awwal) upon Whom it depends, it is the ultimate principle of motion, in substance and actuality.

Ashâ€˜arī (al-), Abū al-Ḥassan â€˜Alī Ibn Ismaâ€˜īl (873-4/ 260H -935-6/ 324H) : A famous medieval Muslim theologian. He was born in Basra and he died in Baghdad. Originally he was a member of the Muâ€˜tazilahbut he abandoned their doctrine in 912-3. He is the author of The Treatises of the Islamic Sects(maqālat al-islāmiyyīn). His followers are called the Ashâ€˜arites (al-Ashāâ€˜iriah).

Awwal (al-): the First. Following the example of Proclus of Athens, al-Fārābī calls God al-awwal or the first being from whom all other beings emanate. Al-Fārābī believed that, the successive orders of intellect (â€˜aql), soul (nafs) and prime matter (hayūlah) arised from the First Being through a process of progressive overflowing (see al-Fārābī).

Azraqiyyah (azraqites) : akharajite group that believes īmān wa â€˜amal (faith and action) are not dividable. One cannot pretend to have the faith unless one acts according to this faith.

Baṣrī (al-), Ḥasan, (born in 642, in Madīnah, died in 728, Basra, Iraq) : an important religious figure in Islam, founder of the school of rationalism. He argued that a Muslim who commits a kabīrahis a munāfiq (a liar, a hypocrite); hence, he is punished by hell.

Bayâ€˜ah : It is an oath of allegiance to the caliph, once he has been established as such. Traditionally this endorsement of the caliph had to be open/public. A later development of the bayâ€˜ah distinguished between the bayâ€˜ah khāṣah (done only by Muslims) and thebayâ€˜ah â€˜āmmah (secondary to bayâ€˜ah khāṣah, and done by Non-Muslims too).

Deontologism: a modern Western moral theory that holds that actions conform to certain laws, prohibitions, and commandments. Hence, moral acts are acts that conform to the values expressed in the laws, prohibitions and positive commandments (system of obligations).

Ethics: a. in Greek â€˜Ethike/ Ethicosâ€™, relating to good and bad. b. The corpus of rules and the system of principles governing the practice in respect to a single class of human actions.

Eudemonia (from Greek): a state of being Happy. Not an instance of feeling Happy. Most influential Ancient Greek thinkers thought that the Happy person is the virtuous one. The virtuous person is He who has a settled disposition to reliably do virtuous things. Human virtue (or excellence) consists of courage, moderation, justice and wisdomâ€¦ in short, in Greek ethical theories, virtuous agents are happy.

Fārābī (al-), Abū Naṣr Muḥammad al-Fārābī (870-950) : one of the renowned Islamic philosophers. He occupies a unique position in the history of philosophy, as the link between Greek philosophy and Islamic thought. He is also a leading advocate of the Islamic Neoplatonism school of reasoning.He became known asthe Second Teacher (al-muâ€˜allim al-thānī) after Aristotle himself.His major contribution to Islamic metaphysics was his development of the doctrine of essence and existence. Following the example of Greek philosophers, al-Fārābī believed in the concept of emanation according to which the successive orders of intellect (â€˜aql), soul (nafs) and prime matter (hayūlah) arised from the First Being through a process of progressive overflowing. This issue became one of the most heated controversies between the Islamic philosophers and the theologians (mutakallimūn). He is the author of the Virtuous City(al-madīnah al-fāḍilah) and the Civil Polity (al-Siyāsah al-madaniyyah). His philosophical successor was Ibn Sīnā.

Fayḍ: â€œemanationâ€ from a purely technical philosophical point of view. The contrast posed was between a world created ex nihilo at a moment in time by God, and a world which emanated eternally from God. The later was frequently opposed by ahl al-kalāmand seen as heretical (see al-Fārābī).

Fiqh: Islamic law. Originally the word meant 'understanding' or 'knowledge'.

Fitnah: social upheaval, civil war. Fitnah is often used to refer to the civil war between â€˜Alī Ibn Abī Ṭālib and Muâ€˜āwiyah Ibn Abī Ṣufyān.

Ghaffār (al-) : the Forgiver. It is one of the 99th attributes of God.

Ghalabah : literally, it means â€œvictory, overcoming somethingâ€. Ghalabah is a gender, ethnic, tribal and linguistic based dominance that forces a choice.

Ghāyah : purpose.

Ghazālī (al-), Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad (1058-1111) : Muslim theologian. He was also a scholar of Islamic philosophy and a Sufi. He is the author of Revival of the Religious Sciences (iḥyā' â€˜ulūm al-dīn).

Ḥadīth â€“(pl. al-aḥādīth) : the Arabic word has many meanings: â€˜sayingsâ€™, â€˜utteringâ€™ â€˜conversationâ€™, â€˜speechâ€™, â€˜reportâ€™. In Islam it means â€˜traditionâ€™. It is a record of the sayings or doings of the Prophet and his Companions. TheḤadīth is considered as a source of Islamic law, dogma and ritual second only to the Qurâ€™ān.

Ḥajj: pilgrimage to Mecca. It is the fifth of the fivepillars (Arkān) of Islām.

Ḥākim (al-) : the Sage, the Wise. Ḥakīm related to the word ḥikmah(wisdom). 1) Al-Fārābīrefers to Plato as al-ḥakīm. Al-ḥakīmān (the two Sages) are Plato and Aristotle.2) al-ḥakīm is also one of the attributes of the First, according to al-Fārābī(see al-awwal).

Ḥaqq (al-) : the Truth. One of the 99th attributes of God. Also, one of the attributes of the First, according to al-Fārābī. (see al-awwal).

Ḥarām: forbidden. One of the five categories in which Islamic law and ethics have traditionally divided human behavior.

Ibn â€˜Atāâ€™ al Ghazāl, Wāṣil, also called Abū Ḥudhayfah (700â€“ 748, Arabia) : After he left al-Baṣrī 's study circle, he founded the Muâ€˜taziliteschool of thought.

Ibn Rushd, Abū el-Walīd Muḥammad Ibn Aḥmad (1126- 1198) : he is known in the West as Averroes, a Hispano-Arab philosopher, commentator on Aristotle, who also was a qadi and a doctor. His books were ordered to be burned and very little has remained of his writings. Ibn Rushd argued that all â€œimperfectâ€ existing bodies consist of hayūlā (substance) and ṣūrah(form). He considers that any jism (body) has to be a combination of these two components in order to be able to exist (see al-ajsām al-basīṭah, hayūlā, ṣūrah).

â€˜Iffah : temperance, purity, abstinence.

Ijmāâ€˜: in jurisprudence this term can be translated as 'consensus'. Along with the Qurâ€™ān, the Sunnah. It is one of the main sources of law and ethics in Islam.

Ikhwān al-Ṣafā: a secret group of Muslim philosophers, theologians and intellectuals who flourished most probably in Basra in the 4th/10th or 5th/11th centuries. They were believed to be ismaâ€˜īlī. They are the authors of fifty-two epistles (Rasā'il) which were encyclopedic in range, covering subjects as diverse as music, astronomy, embryology, and philosophy. According to Ikhwān al-Ṣafā, all souls (living beings) are moved by the desire to live (shahwat at-baqāâ€™) and contempt of death (karāhiyyat al-fanāâ€™). Ikhwān al-Ṣafā also believe that humans act only when faced with:a) positive and negative commands: amr wa nahyb) promise of positive reward and promise of painful reward: waâ€˜d wa waâ€˜īd c) praise and bashing: madḥ wa dhammd) enticement and threat: targhīb wa tarhīb

â€˜Ilm: science. Genuine knowledge.

Imām: a) leader of the prayers. b) for Shīâ€˜ah, he is the successor of the Prophet and is believed to be infallible.

Iqnāâ€˜ (adj. iqnāâ€˜ī/ iqnāâ€˜ yyah): persuasion. According to al-Fārābī, persuasion is a form of conjecture (ẓann), in which one believes a thing to be such and such, although it is possible for it to be otherwise. (see raâ€™y)

Irādah : volition, want, will.

â€˜Ishq : erotic passion. According to al-Fārābī, it is a disposition of the human soul to seek the satisfaction of â€˜beastlyâ€™ passion and renounce divine things.

Islām: literally, it means â€˜submissionâ€™. Islām is one of the three monotheistic religions. It was founded by Muḥammad in the 7th century, after God reveald the Qurâ€™ān to him through the archangel Jibrīl.

Ittiṣāl: conjunction. According to al-Farābī, when humans attain the highest stage of theoretical knowledge, they attain the stage of union with the Active Intellect. Al-Farābīsometimescalls this stage conjunction, sometimes proximity, of which humansâ€™ ultimate happiness consists.

Jāhiliyyah : derives from the Arabic noun jahl (state of ignorance). It is used to refer to the pre-Islamic period.

Jannah (al-) : literally: â€˜the gardenâ€™. In the Qurâ€™ānit is often used to refer to â€˜paradiseâ€™. Paradise is also referred to with the words â€˜Adan (Eden) and Firdaws.

Jawhar: substance.

Jazāâ€™ : reward (positive reward).

Jiblah (pl. jibillah) : natural disposition, nature.

Jihād: comes from the Arabic verb jahada: to strive for a better way of life. Jihādmeans endeavor, strain, exertion, effort, diligence, fighting to defend one's life, land, and religion.

Jinn: in the Qurâ€™ān, jinn are beings made from fire (or flame) who can take different forms. There are good jinn and bad ones.

Jubāâ€˜ī (al-), Abū â€˜Alī Muḥammad Ibn â€˜Abd al-Wahhab (?-303/915-6) : one of the celebrated thinkers of muâ€˜tazilah. He was born at Jubba in Khuzistan, and he attended the school at Baṣrā of Abū Yaâ€˜qūb Yūsuf al-Shahhām.Abū al-Ḥassan al-Ashâ€˜arī was one of his pupils, but in 912-913 he broke away and founded the Ashâ€˜ariteschool of thought.

Kalām: literally it means â€˜speechâ€™. In Islam however, â€˜ilm al- kalām is the science of theology. Therefore, kalām includes the theological debates that took place in Islam and that dealt with the theological subjects on which some scholars disagreed.

Karam : generosity, nobility.

Karīm (al-) : the Generous. It is one of the 99th attributes of God.

Khalīfah (pl. khulafāâ€™):caliph. Originally the word meant â€œsuccessorâ€ (i.e. of the Prophet). In Islam, the caliph is the head of the community of believers. His functions are secular as well as religious. The first four caliphs are called â€œal-khulafāâ€™ al-rāshidūn (the wise caliphs). In the Qurâ€™ān, the title of khalīfah is given to both Ādam and Dāwūd (David).

Khalq : creation. According to al-Māturīdī, God created everything including acts.

Kharajites (in Arabic khawārij) : derives from the Arabic root â€˜kharajahâ€™ (means â€˜to go outâ€™, â€˜to secedeâ€™). A revolutionary, and egalitarian group that revolted against the Caliph â€˜Uthmān Ibn â€˜Affān and later against â€˜Alī Ibn Alī Ṭālib. In the battle of Siffīn, opposing â€˜Alī Ibn Alī Ṭālib and Muâ€˜āwiyah Ibn Abī Ṣufyā they refused any form of arbitration saying that the judgment should be left only to God.

Khāṣṣah: the elite. For al-Fārābī, the philosopher should be regarded as a member of the elite in an absolute sense.

Mālik: Abū â€˜Abd Allāh Mālik Ibn Anas (716- 795) : One of the most important jurists of Medieval Islam. He lived and spent most of his life in Madinah where he also died. He is the founder of the Māliki school that considers the â€˜practiceâ€™ (â€˜amal) ofMadinah as the ideal and example to follow. Mālik is the author of what is considered as the first major Ḥadīth in Islam:The Smoothed Path (al-muwaṭṭaâ€™).Nowadays, followers of the Mālikī school of law are located mainly in North Africa as well as the West and Center of the African continent .

Mālik (al-) : the Ruler or the Owner. One of the 99th attributes of God.

Mālik al-Mulk : the Owner or the Ruler of the universe. One of the 99th attributes of God.

Manṭiq: logic. According to al-Fārābī, logic is a tool which, when used properly, will yield to certainty (yaqīn) in all theoretical and practical sciences and is absolutely indispensable for attaining that goal. Manṭiq derives from nuṭq.

Maâ€˜qūl : intelligible. Al-Fārābībelieved the First to be an intelligible in act, since matter is what impedes an entity from being an intelligible in act. (see al-Fārābī)

Māturīdī: Muḥammad Ibn Muḥammad Ibn Maḥmūd Abū Manṣūr al-Samarqandī al-Māturīdī al-Ḥanafī (died in 944 in Māturīd in Samarqand): he was one of the most important imāmof the mutakallimūn of ahl al-sunnah and the founder of the Māturīdī school of theology.

Morality: a. in Latin â€˜moralisâ€™, meaning custom; relating to right and wrong in terms of behavior. b. Descriptively: a code of conduct put forward by some group, an individual, or society. c. Normatively: a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons.

Muḥammad Ibn â€˜Abd Allāh (570-632) : prophet of Islam. He is reported to have received the first revelation of the Qurâ€™ānin Mecca, through the angel Gabriel (Jibrīl) when he was about 40 years old.

Muḥāsabah : self-examination or accounting for one's own actions. A supporting mystical virtue or a second-order virtue in Sufi teaching.

Muḥdath : created in time. Plato believed that the world is created in time, while Aristotle is alleged to hold that it is eternal.

Murjiâ€™ah : a sect of Islam. Murjiâ€™ah believe that â€˜sinfulâ€™ actions do not adversely affect faith the same way that acts of obedience are of no benefit if they are accompanied by disbelief. Murjiâ€™ah withheld judgment regarding those who start / participate in fitnah.

Muâ€˜tazilites (or muâ€˜tazilah) : the word derives from the Arabic verb iâ€˜tazala: to seclude oneself. In effect, the term refers to some scholars who disagreed with theologians on a number of points among which the doctrine of a created Qurâ€™ān, and manâ€™s free will.

Nāmūs: law, natural law, moral law, possibly religious law. Ikhwān al-Ṣafā, organize all living beings in categories. According to them, plants rank under animals, animals rank under humans, humans rank under wise people, wise people rank under the people of law (nāmūs), who in turn, rank under angels.

Nār : literally: the fire. It is the most common name by which â€˜hellâ€™ is referred to in the Qurâ€™ān.

Qalb: heart. According to al-Ghazālī, it is the same as al-rūḥ (the soul, the spirit). The virtues of the heart are: a) virtues of devils: akhlāq al-shayāṭīn b) virtues of domestic animals: akhlāq al-bahāâ€™im c) virtues of predatory animals: akhlāq al-sibāâ€˜ d) virtues of angels: akhlāq al-malāâ€™ikah

Qiyās : 'analogy' or 'analogical reasoning'. A method of extracting (deriving) legal rulings when none exists in the Qurâ€™ān, Sunnah, and ijmāâ€˜ . In his writings, al-Fārābī is critical of this method of analogy on the ground that it is reductible to similarity (shabah), rather than deduction in the strict sense. According to himthere are five types of qiyās: the demonstrative, the dialectical, the sophistical, the rhetorical and the poetical.

Qurâ€™ān: Also spelled in English as Koran. Literally this word means 'Recitation'. The Qur'an is Islam's holiest book.

Qurb(also muqārabah) : proximity. According to al-Farābī, when humans attain the highest stage of theoretical knowledge, they attain the stage of union with the Active Intellect. Al-Farābīsometimes calls this stage conjunction (ittiṣāl).

Ramaḍān: it is the 9th month of the Muslim lunar calendar: it is believed that the Qurâ€™ānwas descended that month. It is also the month of fasting. During the fast the believer must abstain from food, drink and sexual intercourse during daylight hours.

Raâ€™y: opinion. According to al-Fārābī, both conjecture and certainty are species of opinion (raâ€™y) which is liable to truth or falsity.

Riḍah : satisfaction. It is a virtue produced by love, by pleasant acts, feelingsâ€¦

Saâ€˜ādah : happiness. According to al-Ghazālī, happiness is achieved through: a) the power of anger: quwwat al-ghaḍab b) the power of lust: quwwat al-shahwah c) the power of knowledge: quwwat al-â€˜ilm

Shabībah : group among the kharajiteswho argued that even a womanwho is faithful and practicing can be a khalīfah.

Shāfiâ€˜ī (al-), Muḥammad Ibn Idrīs (767-820) : Muslim jurist, founder of one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence. He provided a formal structure of Islamâ€™s obligation materials in law and morality. His name was given to the Shafiâ€˜ī school of jurisprudence founded by his disciples: the Shāfiâ€˜īs.

Shahādah: profession of faith that a person must recite in order to become a Muslim. It is the first of the five pillars (Arkān) of Islām, and is declared once a lifetime.

Shakk : doubt. According to al-Fārābī, shakk is the suspension of judgment with respect to two opinions equally credible.

Sharâ€˜: â€œthe road leading to waterâ€ (or to the source of life). It is also coined to refer to law.

Sharīâ€˜ah: Commonly referred to as â€œIslamic lawâ€ it is a code of behavior, a composite science of law and morality that is at the same time more and less than a simple legal system in the Western sense of the term. More, because it regulates private acts such as ritual practices of the faith or social behavior. Less, because it ignores entire parts of human activity that would be taken into consideration in other juridical codes. Thus, Sharīâ€˜ah is a combination of law, morality, religion and etiquette.

Sharr : what is bad, evil.

Shāṭibī (al-), Abū Isḥāq Ibn Mūsā al-Shāṭibī al-Mālikī (?-1388) : One of the founding scholars of uṣūl al-fiqh, he laid great emphasis on the requirement of complete knowledge and erudition in the Arabic language, not merely correct understanding, for those who practice ijtihād. He is the author of muwafaqāt fī uṣul al-Sharīâ€˜ah (The Congruences of the Sources of the Divine Law).

Shīâ€˜ah: originally, means â€˜groupâ€™, â€˜partyâ€™, â€˜followers of someoneâ€™. Shīâ€˜ah is one of the two major theological and legal school of thought in Islam. It derives from Shīâ€˜at â€˜Alī (followers of â€˜Alī Ibn Abī Ṭālib). The Shiâ€˜ites believe that it is â€˜Alī Ibn Abī Ṭālib (cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet) rather than Abū Bakr who should have succeeded Muḥammad. In the civil war (fitnah) between â€˜Alī Ibn Abī Ṭālib and Muâ€˜āwiyah Ibn Abī Ṣufyān they supported â€˜Alī Ibn Abī Ṭālib. They also argue for the need for infallible imāmto head the community.

Sunnah: literally, it can mean â€˜trodden pathâ€™, â€˜wayâ€™, â€˜ruleâ€™, â€˜manner of actingâ€™ or â€˜mode of lifeâ€™. Originally it meant 'customary practice', it now indicates the specific actions or doings of the Prophet Muḥammad himself verses the specific sayings (Ḥadīthor reports). Since the life of the Prophet is believed to be virtuous and exemplary, the acts of Muḥammad provide the norms and set the model of human life and behavior (Sunnah). These virtuous acts are then converted into obligations of which total constitutes the Sharīâ€˜ah. Customarily, Sunnah and Ḥadīthare used interchangeably nowadays. (see Ḥadīth).

Ṭalāq :Divorce. A saying attributed to the Prophet states that among all things permitted by God, divorce is the most blameworthy. Thus divorce is clearly permitted in Islam but not encouraged. If the divorce is done by repudiating a marriage three times then this repudiation cancels any opportunity for reconciliation. Otherwise, it should be followed by a waiting period of three menstrual cycles that is supposed to give the spouses a chance of reconciliation and/or to determine if the wife is pregnant.

Taâ€˜līm: instruction, teaching.

Taqṣīr : poor judgment.

Taqiyyah: Dissimulation of one's religion, especially in time of persecution or danger. The practice is permitted by the shīâ€˜ah.